Joyce Yakubowich (née Sadowick; 29 May 1953 – 24 March 2024) was a Canadian

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

sprinter who competed mainly in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. She was the 400 m gold medallist at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...

, where she also won relay medals. She twice represented Canada at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

(1972, 1976) and was a three-time Canadian national sprint champion.

Career

Born in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

,Joyce Yakubowich
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 13 February 2016. she made her international debut at age seventeen at the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

. She was eliminated in the heats of the 400 m, but managed to secure a bronze medal with the Canadian women's

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

team, which included

Joan Hendry Joan Hendry (born 14 May 1945) was a member of the Canadian 1968 Olympic and 1970 Commonwealth Games team. She also qualified for the 1972 Olympics but could not compete as she was injured. She won two Commonwealth Games bronze medals in long jum ...

Patty Loverock Patty Loverock (born 21 February 1953) is a Canadian sprinter. She competed in the women's 100 metres and 200 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where she got to the semi-finals in both events. She set a Canadian record of 23.03 in her quarte ...

and

Stephanie Berto Stephanie Berto (born March 13, 1953 in Vancouver) is a retired female track and field athlete, who represented Canada at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the women's 100 metres and 4 × 100 m relay, while becoming the youngest member of the Olympic t ...

. She went on to attend the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

and broke several track records, including one for the

300 metres The 300 metres is an uncommon sprinting event in track and field competitions. All-time top 25 *+ = en route to 400 m performance *i = indoor performance *A = affected by altitude *OT = oversized track (> 200 m in circumference) *h = hand timi ...

which remains unbeaten. Yakubowich ran at the

1971 Pan American Games * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Jan ...

and made her first individual final, taking sixth in the 400 m. With the Canadian relay team she missed a medal, taking fourth some distance behind bronze medallists Jamaica. Her first national titles came at the 1972 Canadian Track and Field Championships, where she claimed both the 200 m and 400 m races – the latter in a championship record of 54.1 seconds. An Olympic debut came the following year at the 1972 Munich Games, but the 19-year-old failed to make it out of the heats. She gained her first individual medal a year later at the

1973 Pacific Conference Games The 1973 Pacific Conference Games was the second edition of the international athletics competition between five Pacific coast nations: Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. It was held on June 27 and 28 in Toronto. A tota ...

, taking 400 m bronze. The 1975 season proved to be the peak of her career. First, she won the third and final national title of her career in the 200 m. She was chosen to compete in four events at the

. She placed sixth in the 200 m final, recording a lifetime best time of 23.34 seconds. She gave a dominant performance in the women's 400 m final, defeating American

Debra Sapenter Debra Elaine Sapenter (born February 27, 1952), is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 meters. She was born in Prairie View, Texas. In 1975 she was rated as the number one 400 meter women's sprinter in the United States. She comp ...

by over half a second to win the gold medal in 51.62 seconds – another lifetime personal record and also a games record. Another games record and gold medal came with the 4 × 400 m relay team of

Margaret McGowen Margaret Stride (née MacGowan; born 21 December 1954) is a Canadian sprinter. She competed in the women's 400 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She won a gold medal in the 1975 Pan American Games 4 × 400 metres relay (with Joyce Sadowick, ...

Rachelle Campbell Rachelle Campbell (born 30 October 1956) is a Canadian sprinter. She competed in the women's 400 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She won a gold medal in the 1975 Pan American Games 4 × 400 metres Relay (with Joyce Sadowick, Margaret McG ...

, and Joanne McTaggart, which she led off to victory to 3:30.36 minutes. A third medal of the games for Yakubowich came in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

: running the anchor leg off McTaggart and 100 m minor medallists

and

Marjorie Bailey Marjorie Bailey (née Turner; born 21 November 1947) is a Canadian sprinter. At the 1976 Summer Olympics she competed in the women's 100 metres and 200 metres. She made the semi-final round in both events. She ran the anchor leg of the 4 x ...

the team took the bronze.1975 Pan American Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 14 February 2016. She made two further high-profile international appearances in her career following her Pan American success. She returned to the Olympic stage at the

1976 Montreal Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, running in the 400 m quarter-finals and placing eighth in the relay final on home turf alongside fellow Canadians Margaret Stride, Campbell and Yvonne Saunders. Her last outing was for the Americas team at the

1977 IAAF World Cup The 1st IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held from 2 to 4 September 1977, at the Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, West Germany. Overal ...

: running with Cuba's

Aurelia Pentón Aurelia Catalina Pentón Conde (born February 13, 1941) is a retired track and field athlete from Cuba, who competed in the 400 and 800 metres during her career. Pentón was born in Sancti Spíritus, and twice represented her native country at ...

and Jamaicans

Jacqueline Pusey Jacqueline "Jackie" Pusey (born 14 August 1959) is a Jamaican former track and field sprinter. She competed over distances from 100 metres to 400 metres. She represented Jamaica at the 1976 Summer Olympics (being their youngest entrant at age 16) ...

and

Helen Blake Helen Blake (born 1 May 1951) is a Jamaican sprinter. She competed in the women's 400 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Blake finished fourth in the 400 metres at the 1975 Pan American Games and sixth in the 400 metres at the 1979 Pan Americ ...

, she placed fifth.

International competitions

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British Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, rowspan=2,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

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Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

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Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany , 6th (heats) ,

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

, 54.59 , - , 1973 , Pacific Conference Games ,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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, rowspan=4,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Mexico , 6th , 200 m , 23.34 , - , bgcolor=gold, 1st , 400 m , 51.62 {{AthAbbr, GR, Pan American Games , - , bgcolor=cc9966, 3rd , 4 × 100 m relay , 43.68 , - , bgcolor=gold, 1st , 4 × 400 m relay , 3:30.36 {{AthAbbr, GR, Pan American Games , - , rowspan=2, 1976 , rowspan=2,

, rowspan=2,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, Canada , 7th (q-finals) ,

, 55.02 , - , 8th ,

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, 3:28.91 , - , 1977 , IAAF World Cup ,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany , 5th , 4 × 400 m relay , 3:31.0

National titles

* Canadian Track and Field ChampionshipsJoyce Yakubowich
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 13 February 2016. **200 m: 1972, 1975 **400 m: 1972

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Canadian Olympic Committee profile
{{Footer Pan American Champions 400m Women {{Footer Pan American Champions 4x400m Women {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Yakubowich, Joyce 1953 births 2024 deaths Canadian female sprinters Sportspeople from Burnaby Olympic track and field athletes for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Victoria Vikes athletes Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Simon Fraser University alumni Canadian Track and Field Championships winners